Bonds
by Cratormaster
Summary: Maturing cannot be postponed. As the Wizard Competition draws to a close, the siblings each has their own destiny, intermingling and extending out into the real world. Watch as the river of time pushes them forward to their paradise, and the reality of the Magic Realm and Mortal World.


**A/N: Please review. I cannot stress enough how much it means to me. Just by reviewing, you are literally giving me the motivation to keep writing. Just with a few words of encouragement or criticism, you will acknowledge that someone out there is actually reading my chapters, and that will prompt me to go on for much longer than you will ever imagine. Thank you.**

* * *

"That's our show, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks for watching," The Chancellor's voice sounded behind the hugging Russo family. "And good night!"

 _We Are the Champion_ started booming in the background, and the curtains to the game show dropped. A faint shout of "cut" was echoed in the distance.

Alex released Harper from her arms and lifted her head to the ceiling. "I, I can't believe this!"

Justin, in his mellow self, struggling to overcome the exhilaration of becoming both the headmaster of WizTech and a full wizard, came over and placed a hand on Alex's shoulder.

Alex picked her head up and looked at her brother with a huge smile. "I can't believe you would actually give up the competition for me."

"I didn't do it just for you." Justin shook his head. "It was an integrity thing. If I steal the victory from you after you helped me with that tree root, it would go against everything I ever believe in."

"That doesn't matter." Alex remarked gently, "You still did it, the right thing. The right thing that I would never have done."

"No, sis. You already did it by helping me in the competition." Justin grinned. "If I took the victory from you and become the Family Wizard, my conscience would be flawed. My soul would be corrupted by the power of magic."

"And I can never allow that." Justin declared. "Even if I become Family Wizard, I wouldn't be following my heart, and, that, makes magic pointless."

Alex stared at him, trying to comprehend the speech. "Whatever. You make even the sweetest moments nerdy. Just admit you love me."

As she turned around, her older brother yanked her back. "Remember what I said. That was an important life lesson that I just learned."

"Okay." The brunette rolled her eyes.

"I am dead serious." Justin peered straight into her fluctuating black eyes.

Alex sighed and responded, this time with a sincere tone. "I promise."

"Also, I do love you." Justin smirked.

Alex slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "See? Was that so hard?"

"Ah, Justin's right. Pureness of the heart and fluency of thought must transcend over other materialistic conducts or temptation in order to master the power of full wizardry. If this is betrayed, corruption settles in."

The two siblings turned around to find Professor Crumbs standing behind them, listening to the entire conversation. "And since wizards can live for quite a while, even the slightest crack can break the dam."

"Justin, you have once again demonstrated your expertise in magic." Crumbs complimented him. "My decision for Headmaster will not be wrong."

Justin bowed slightly to the ancient man. "For certain, your trust will not be misplaced, Professor."

"Good luck you two." Crumbs smiled and nodded. "Justin, Alex. You both have quite outdone yourself, and, believe it or not, most of the young wizards of your age."

"With that, I shall see you in due time. Aspiciam posthac."

With a flash, Professor Crumbs teleported out of the arena.

Justin and Alex stared at each other, both full of joy. The worries, the concerns, the training, and the endless adventures as they anticipated and prepared for the competition, had finally yielded fruit.

Chancellor Tootietootie came over and patted the wizards siblings on the back. "Crumbs is right, however bad his breath smells."

The Head of the Monster Hunters chuckled, then continued. "Anywho, I'm glad to see you two finally getting your powers. Afterall, not many wizards, nonetheless mortals, can say they have saved Earth."

He paused for effect and coughed. "Even though half of the troubles are caused by yourself."

Justin and Alex rubbed the back of their neck nervously and laughed.

The Chancellor saluted them and flashed out as well.

The two walked back toward the family, all of whom looking at them with excitement.

Alex noticed that Max looked slightly down, so she walked over to him. Pulling by his arm, she led him to a chair in the audience section and grinned. "You know that whenever you want to do something magical, just call me on the training wand with the phone app. I'll do it for you."

"Thanks, Alex. I'll really appreciate it." Max smiled at her. "Magic is cool. Losing it is definitely painful. But with you as the evil genius, I'm sure I will still have plenty of chances at casting spells, even though I'm not a wizard."

"Like dad." Alex smiled in nostalgia, as she recalled the time she gave her father Merlin's Hat for Father's Day. There are numerous other similar items, and she was already working on plans to get her hands on a few.

"Plus, I get the SubShop!" Max chanted joyfully. "You two will own the future, but I have possession of all of our dearest memories."

Alex grinned back. "Free sandwiches right?"

"Forever free!" Max promised, with a fierce glint in his eyes, overpowering the disappointment.

"What are you guys talking about?" Justin cruised over. After a glimpse at Alex's smile as her iris turned from pure black to a slight blue, he immediately realized what was going on.

"What are you planning now!?" Justin shouted in fear. "Already? You haven't even been a full wizard for ten minutes!"

"Justin! Calm down!" Alex yelled back. "I'm trying to figure out how to let Max cast spells again."

"Oh, like Merlin's Hat! But you need to do a good deed for those." Justin eyed his sister. "And a good deed from you is like a …"

"Miracle? Impossible? Marvel?" Max helpfully supplied.

"HEY! I can do good deeds!" Alex pouted. "Remember when I saved the world from the Angels of Darkness, and YOU were the one corrupted."

A flash of regret shot across Justin's face. "Okay, fine, that was completely my fault. You did fix everything."

Alex raised her head in a satisfied motion. "You got that right!"

* * *

 **Commercial Break**

 **A/N: Please review. I cannot stress enough how much it means to me. Just by reviewing, you are literally giving me the motivation to keep writing. Just with a few words of encouragement or criticism, you will acknowledge that someone out there is actually reading my chapters, and that will prompt me to go on for much longer than you will ever imagine. Thank you.**

* * *

Justin looked at the pile of luggage on his bed.

Piles upon piles, upon more piles…

"What?" He made an innocent motion to Alex, staring at him while adding the last of her own stuff to her brother's collection. "I like to keep all of my essentials together for WizTech."

Alex opened a suitcase and pulled out a balcony, which she hung out the window. "You're bringing so much stuff you can't even shrink your bags with magic anymore."

Justin's eye twitched. "I need fresh air when I drink my afternoon tea. I don't know if the Professors' rooms have a large enough balcony."

"You know, it's usually girls who overpack." Alex shook her head, ignoring the tea comment, deeming it as too easy. Then, a teasing smile sneaked onto her face as her eyes turned green. "Oh wait, you are one."

"You've used that one 721 times in the last 12 months. I thought you would've went for the tea statement." Her older brother smirked. "I'm disappointed, sis. Nothing new?"

"I'm tired, okay?" Alex stuck out her tongue. "Do you really want me to try?"  
Justin cringed. "Not really…"

"Didn't think so."

They sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm only saying this once…" Alex spoke up. She then met Justin's glance and stuck to it. "I'm really going to miss you not by my side."

"I know, baby sis." Justin walked over and pulled her to him. "Remember my promise when I was going to go to college last year?"

"Yeah. You said we will always be together." Alex nodded. "And then you never left because you wanted us to get the Wizard Competition over with first."  
"Mmhmm, and then we messed up by exposing magic, which led to a year of postponing until we worked our way back up to be ready for the Competition."

"Well, you'll be busy with WizTech." Alex sighed. "We're wizards, so I'll just teleport there when I want a visit."

"Professor Crumbs did leave me to a lot of responsibility." Justin nodded. "I mean, I'm really familiar with the place, and I have TAed there, but running the place is a lot more complicated than teaching."

"Actually, Alex, where are you staying after this? I'm sure you won't want to be stuck with mom and dad for any longer."

"Probably renting out a place with Harper." Alex replied. "Mason's going to get an apartment at Royal Heaven, so I'll go there on weekends. That way I can drop in and out of wizard and mortal life."

Justin nodded, and a clever smirk rose over his face. "You're getting really mature. Didn't know getting full wizardry have that effect on people."

"Don't push it. I'm still the evil genius you grew up with." Alex laughed and punched him in the arm.

A knock sounded from Justin's door, and the sibling looked to find Max walking in. The youngest brother took a look at Justin's bed, full of baggage and sighed. "So is this it? The end of the Awesome Russos?"

Justin grabbed Max and pulled him into a hug. "No it is not. We will always be one."

Alex joined the hug, and the three sat on the bed for what seemed like hours.

Max broke the hug first and held onto both of his older siblings. "I'm going to keep the family shop pristine like before!"

"Pristine? What are you talking about?" Justin burst into laughter. "Barely edible food and a weird subway theme?"

"Also, Justin, did you notice that Max used _pristine_!" Alex chimed in. "Our little Maxie is growing up!"

Max grinned, and sighed soon after. "Well, a lot has happened in the past forty-eight hours. And I'm going to lose my bigger brother and sister soon. I've got to take on the world by myself."

Alex and Justin echoed in unison. "You know we will always be there for you."

"Yes, I know… But some things will never be the same, and I am fine with that." Max smiled. "I guess we all have to move on, to another chapter of our lives."

He continued. "Normal people move on after their high school graduation. I was already given more years than they have with you guys. I should be thankful."

Justin rubbed his brother's back and nodded. "I guess the wizard competition really did mature all of us."

Alex played with Justin's suitcase and smirked. "Not you though. You have been acting like an old man since you were seven."

"HEY!"

The trio fell into fits of laughter, each thinking to themselves that this may be the last moments of their adolescence before they truly separate and age into adulthood.

The laughing died down. Justin took a peek at his WizWatch and sighed. "I guess this is goodbye… for now."

He picked up the WizTech Glasses and placed it on. Contrary to the normal glasses worn by the students, his is purple with a gold rim, as well as an enlarged frame with each lens shaped like a dragon's wing.

Alex shook her head. "You just love to look nerdy, don't you?"  
"You know these don't look half bad. You're just jealous." Justin knew exactly when his sister's insults are actually true.

Alex pouted. "I bet those will look way better on me."

"I'll let you try these on when we get there." Justin grinned. "As a reward for helping me with my stuff."

"Yeah, just saying, Justin." Alex coughed. "You're taking so much stuff that you, as an full wizard who has inherited his powers from Professor Crumbs AND with expert status, are asking another expert wizard for help."

"You're not an expert yet, Alex." Justin deadpanned. "Yes, you've overdone all of your requirements with the saving the world stuff to become one, but you still have to pass the MAT."

"What's the MAT?" Max asked. "That was never covered in our training."

"Magical Aptitude Test." Alex explains. "It's the step after obtaining full wizardry."

Justin piped in to elaborate. "It is kind of like the master's degree in the real world. Getting full wizardry is like getting your bachelor, graduating from college. Fulfilling all of your requirements and passing the MAT grant you expert in a single field in the Magic Realm, just like the master's degree in the mortal world grants you recognition in one special field."

"Ok, no wonder Dad never covered it." Max nodded. "What expert field are you in?"

"Me? Monster Hunting, of course." Justin said. "Although I'm also going for Magic Architecture, Protection, Aquakinesis, and Education right now."

"Tryhard!" Alex snorted. "And Education? Really? That's not even magic!"

"I need that to be acknowledged as Headmaster, since it is a teaching job, according to the Wizard Council." Justin sighed. "You think I want to spend my time on something as pointless as that?"

"Just be glad they didn't make you take Management." Alex laughed.

"Nah, the Pixie Computer takes care of all of that."

"Okay, I want you guys to stay here for as long as possible as well." Max stomped his feet lightly and released a sigh. "But we're dragging this goodbye out for too long."

The trio looked at each other, knowing that they are all guilty of postponing this farewell.

Justin stood up reluctantly. "Let's go, Alex. Let's not keep WizTech waiting for too long."

Alex gave Max a kiss on the cheek and picked up her wand, which was now switched over to the Russo Family wand, a titanium beauty with swirls and rainbow-like glitter. The handle is made of pink fur, which stopped at the bottom of the wand, a shining pearl.

She spent almost three hours customizing the wand to her liking, which she discovered was a feature of it. Uncle Kelbo never got the wand because he didn't technically win the Wizard Competition, because Jerry gave his powers to him voluntarily.

Her Grandfather, Duke Russo, returned the Family Wand to the Family when he went to serve on the Wizard Court, since the Court gave him an equally powerful Justice wand.

Therefore, the Family Wand was once again put to use after twenty years of being in the Lair, not counting the summer when Alex created a parallel universe.

Justin took out his own wand, as potent as the Family Wand, being the classic Headmaster wand that was passed down since the establishment of WizTech in the Age of Enrichment.

It was also in that period during which the Russo Family originated, which explained how the Family Wand can match the power of the ancient Headmaster Wand.

Alex's thoughts were interrupted when Justin poked her on the shoulder. "Let's go."

With a flash, the older Russo teleported out, and along with him, half of the baggage.

The brunette gave one final look at the house, knowing that the next time she returned, it would be different, whether the exterior stayed the same or not.

With that, she, as well, flashed out, with the rest of her brother's stuff, along with her own bags.

A light poured from her exiting, and Max reached out his hand, as if trying to hold on to the last piece of his siblings, to the last piece of magic, to his childhood.

No matter how much his brother and sister say they would still be one, he knew that something was different. It was not just magic. It was growing up.

They had postponed growing up for so long, using the Wizard Competition as an excuse. But the time to mature had arrived.

Max turned to Justin's desk, brushing off the "dust" on it, even though he knew that his brother would never allow even the slightest speck of waste to touch it.

A drop of tear started to form as he looked at the not-yet-empty room, but it had lost all of its soul with its inhabitant gone.

Max brought the door to a close, and walked next door to his sister's room. The familiar pink, furry wallpaper is now gone, the one he, Jerry, and Justin had put up four years ago.

Alex had packed that away. She had always loved that wallpaper, he thought to himself. Gone is a majority of the room, the traces of childhood disappearing, while others stayed.

Four years of time had leaked through his fingers, their fingers, carrying them away each to their fate, while some droplets stayed, as a reminder of the memories of the adventures they had together.

Four years. The tear fell, and Max closed his sister's door.

"Bye guys." He whispered.

* * *

 **A/N: My writing is known for its detail and dialogue. Some parts are comical and fun, some are adventurous, some are sad, and some are extremely radical.**

 **But whatever it is, I hope you will stay with me on this journey of exhilaration. Its waters shall take us somewhere together, through the ups and downs of the Russos' life, with its surface mirroring ours.**

 **Please review. I cannot stress enough how much it means to me (Posting this paragraph 3 times means something). Just by reviewing, you are literally giving me the motivation to keep writing. Just with a few words of encouragement or criticism, you will acknowledge that someone out there is actually reading my chapters, and that will prompt me to go on for much longer than you will ever imagine. Thank you.**


End file.
